GOAL SETTING NOTES You gotta have goals! How can YOU expect to hit a target you that don t even have? I ve concluded that setting and achieving goals comes down to 3 basic steps, and here they are: 1. Figuring out specifically what it is you want. 2. Developing a Plan of Action 3. Consistently implementing that Plan of Action. This isn t easy because it requires work, it requires planning, and it requires discipline to change your habits and your behavior over an extended period of time. But the rewards are enormous. Imagine being able to accomplish absolutely ANYTHING in life that you wanted. Wouldn t that be amazing? You could have all the money you wanted, you could live in your dream home, drive the coolest car, send your kids to any college in the country, you could travel whenever and wherever you wanted. Well you can. Step 1 Deciding What You Want Most people never GET what they want, because they never clearly IDENTIFY what it IS that they want. Getting very clear about what s important to you in your life, and then prioritizing the tasks you need to complete is a critical ingredient in accomplishing those things. For purposes of this training and for simplicity, we ll presume that your main goals are to make this program a success, to begin receiving cash consistently, and to mentor others to do the same. In order for you to
accomplish those things, you need to understand and accept a few principles. First, this will take consistent and positive action on your part, and it will take a lot of work. Success in anything takes work, and this is no exception. Next, you need to give yourself permission to screw up occasionally. You will make mistakes, and that s certainly OK. But make sure you learn from those setbacks, and use your newfound knowledge to improve your outcome next time. Don t set unreasonable time-frames for your success. There are no unreasonable goals, there are only unreasonable time-frames. You need to list and then prioritize the most important things you need to get done. The time-frame I suggest you work with is the next month. What are the most important things you want to get accomplished over the next 30 days? Take a look at the Goal Priority Chart Sample you printed out earlier. To create this list, I got myself into a quiet spot where I wouldn t be interrupted at all. I turned off the ringer on my phone and fax machine, and made sure Jane knew I wasn t to be disturbed. I just sat with a blank page and began brainstorming - writing down all of the important tasks I needed to accomplish. I think better in front of a computer many of you will have a pen and pad. It doesn t matter just do what feels right to you. I ended up with about 10 or 11 things, and I pared that down to 8. The list you re seeing is the actual list that I made at that time.
Here was the secret I learned in creating the list. When I began thinking of tasks, I wrote the first one I thought of at the TOP of the page, number 1, and the next one at the BOTTOM, which became number 8. Then, I wrote the next one in the next spot at the top (number 2) and the next one in the next spot at the bottom (number 7). I kept alternating this top-to-bottom technique until the list was completed. Once my list was complete and I had my 8 most important tasks listed, I now began to prioritize those tasks. I looked at the first two items, numbers 1 and 2, and thought about if I could only do ONE of those things, which one would it be? I wrote the answer in the pane to the right. I then took the next two items, numbers 3 & 4, and did the same evaluation and wrote the answer in the pane to the right. I followed the same methodology for the remaining items on my list, which pared my list down to 4 of the most important tasks to be completed. When writing ideas or tasks down, sometimes the best ones come to you first, since they re the most obvious. Using the same logic, you don t want the two best ideas to be competing against each other right off the bat. This is why you alternate your recording of these items from top to bottom. It just ensures you are completely objective when prioritizing tasks. Now you have your list of 4 items, shown in the second to right vertical column. In analyzing the first two items, and again evaluating if I could only do one of them, which would it be, and write that answer in the pane to the right, and then repeat that process for the bottom two items. Now with only two tasks left, repeat that process to determine what item is the most IMPORTANT one to focus on.
This process came from a great book called The On Purpose Person by Kevin McCarthy. Kevin uses this technique to help people find their purpose in life, which is a great idea. I highly recommend you read his book. We ve given you a blank Goal Priority Chart, but I suggest you don t use it yet. Just get started with a blank piece of paper and start writing. Make sure you re in a quiet spot and you won t be disturbed and just let yourself go. Write down everything you can think of that you need to get accomplished, and remember to do it from top to bottom. If you only can come up with four things, then that s all you can come up with. If you get more than 8, try and pare your list down to 8 that s much more manageable. When you think you re finished, record all of your items on your Goal Priority Chart and begin your tournament. When you ve completed that, the winner will be your core priority, and the runner up will be your secondary priority. You will begin working on those two things right away, recognizing what your number one priority is and spending most of your time on that. If you can t do more than one thing at one time, only do your core priority. I find that I need to have a few things going at one time, so I worked on my numbers 1 and 2 simultaneously, with most of my focus on number 1. Audio 2 Step 2 In our previous session, we listed and prioritized the most important tasks we need to complete during the next 30 days. Our mission now is to define and list the individual steps we ll need to take in order to complete those tasks. These individual steps will become our Master Plan of Action.
The major fault with not attaining our goals almost ALWAYS lies with the lack of a good plan. It s the act of itemizing the individual tasks that need to consistently be completed that keeps us on track. If you don t have a written Action Plan, your chances of succeeding are dramatically reduced. Here s why. First, your written plan helps keep you organized. Since you ve listed all of your tasks in the correct order, you never have to be concerned about what comes next or getting off track. You ve laid everything out in writing you can review it whenever you want and as often as you need to. Next, your written plan helps keep you focused on your core activities. Most people never accomplish their goals because they don t channel their energy on the most important tasks. By creating a written plan, you know EXACTLY what you need to be doing and when. Also, with a good written Plan of Action, you ll easily be able to recognize when you may need to adjust your course. Things rarely proceed as planned, and you ll need to make adjustments along the way. Unexpected obstacles will arise, causing you to alter your actions and modify your plan unexpectedly. Creating your Action Plan forces you to really think through and plan your strategies. You may be surprised at how creative you can get, and many new ideas may come forth as a result of the planning process. The most effective implementations are the ones that are well planned, and this process will ensure that you have carefully considered all options. We ve provided two copies of the Goal Setting Action Plan, one in a PDF format and one in a Microsoft Word format. Here s the difference. If you re reasonably competent in Word, you can use that document to type in the
information as we build our plan. If not, you can print the PDF version and handwrite the information as we go. The Word document is formatted for typing, and the PDF version is formatted for handwriting your information. If you re using the PDF version, when recording your objectives and tasks I suggest you print in Block Letters and take your time. You don t want to be trying to decipher something you wrote hastily later on. Decide which one you want to use, and let s begin completing it. The top area under the heading has 8 entry positions for us to list the 8 main activities we prioritized in step 1. Begin by recording those objectives in the order of priority that we have already established previously. If you didn t have 8, simply record whatever number of objectives you listed. There is a place to list the objective, and to the right we ll be recording the Target Date, or the date we expect to complete the objective. You need to think very carefully about REALISTICALLY how long it will take you to accomplish this task. You must set a schedule that will challenge you, but it must also be attainable. Think about this carefully, and be realistic. You can adjust this date as you go along if you need to. Now that you have your main objectives listed, it s time to identify the individual action steps you ll need to complete to achieve your objective and the completion dates for those tasks. We ve given you room to list 6 main tasks for each objective. Beside the heading Major Objective #1 is where you write or type the objective you listed as number one on your list. Then, you begin identifying and listing the main actions you ll need to complete. Use some back to the future thinking here. Begin by visualizing already having completed your objective. Imagine telling a friend of all the steps
you went through to get there, and then begin listing those steps and putting completion dates on them. Visualize your completed objective in as much detail as possible, and again, be realistic with your completion dates. The dates for each step should allow you to complete your objective by the Target Date you listed at the top of the page. When you ve broken down each objective and itemize the main tasks to be performed, all of the time frames need to add up. For instance, if all of your steps will take you 4 weeks to complete and your original Target Date was only two weeks out, you need to move that Target Date out to align with your new reality. This demonstrates the true power of planning. By itemizing even the smallest steps, you re forced to objectively review your process to insure it s workable. If you re using the Word document, just click beside the number of each step and you ll be able to type your information in. As you finish each item, hit the right arrow key or the Tab key on your keyboard, and that will take you to the appropriate place to enter your Completion Date. If you re using the PDF version, just record the information in the appropriate place. Continue this process until you have the entire form completed for each objective. Audio 3 Step 3 Now that we have the Action Plan document completed, we re going to begin the implementation process. We ll take the information that we just identified in our Action Plan, and we ll be creating weekly plans so we can implement these strategies effectively. We ve provided a Weekly Plan Template you can use for this purpose, and again we have given you two versions of this document; a PDF version and a
Microsoft Word version. Just as before, the Word document allows you to type in your information right on your screen, and the PDF document provides spaces for you to handwrite in your information. Begin with page 1 of the Weekly Plan document. Under the heading where it says, Week Of:, you will put in the date for the week. If you were starting this on Monday, January 5 th, 2009, you d enter January 5 th 09 in that spot. If you re using the Word document, just click in that area, and you ll be able to type in your information. Next, you ll see it has 6 main panels, one for each of the first 6 days of the week. Sunday evening is the perfect time to plan for the upcoming week, and that s when I recommend you spend ½ hour or so and complete this form for the coming week. You could elect to do it on Friday afternoon after you ve finished working, or on Saturday. Whatever works for you. In each of the 6 panels, you ll be listing your most important 3 tasks you need to accomplish that day, as well as any other tasks you ll be required to complete that week. Remember, you ll be working on your number one and perhaps your number two priorities, assuming you ve decided to work on both. You need to identify your most important tasks for each day and list them in the appropriate box. If you re using the Word file, save one blank original as a template and use that one to begin each week. Then, as you fill in the information, just save it as a separate document with the date in the document name so you can retrieve it easily. The bottom left pane is where you can list your 3 main goals for the week. That s important to do; remember, what gets measured gets managed. The bottom right pane contains some helpful hints you ll want to refer to often,
and we have provided a few reminders in the footer to help you stay on track. Now let s move to page 2, where you will do an important review at the end of each week. This page lists 6 review questions, which you will need to complete IN DETAIL before you begin planning for the next week. As mentioned, my favourite time to do this is Sunday night. I complete this page from my last week s activity, and then complete my Weekly Plan for the upcoming week. When completing this section, use concise bullet points instead of long sentences. This will make your information much easier for you to interpret. What I did last week. List the main things you accomplished last week things you planned and things you didn t plan. 2) What I plan to do this week. Here, you summarize your main objectives for the coming week. 3) My roadblocks, obstacles & solutions. What unexpected things came up during the week, and how did you handle them? What obstacles did you encounter last week and what solutions were you able to come up with. Write them down. 4) My successes and insights gained. List all of your successful accomplishments for the week. What insights were you able to gain during the week, and how will they affect your future plans and actions 5) Did you accomplish what you set out to do? You must be brutally honest with yourself here, and really define anything you intended to do that you didn t get done. For example, did you allow distractions to interfere with your implementation? Explain why in as much detail as you can. Don t
make excuses, just be honest. You can t correct behaviour that you won t accept responsibility for. 6) What will you do differently next week to ensure you complete everything you plan? List what behaviour you plan to change for next week so you can get everything accomplished. Take a good look at how many activities you have planned, and try not to spread yourself too thin. If you are honestly just planning more activities than you can realistically get done, you need to address that. It s the CONSISTENT implementation of your plan that makes all the difference in your results. The biggest waste of time and energy I see around me all the time is planning that s never implemented properly. CONSISTENT TIME MANAGEMENT is the key. The reality is that all of the 24 hours each day that you re currently allotted are used up. Think about it you have something happening for every waking hour you have each day. So now you re going to commit to a bunch of new stuff; where is that time going to come from? Only one possibility here. You ll need to take the time away from something you re already doing. This is one of the main downfalls in the implementation process, and another main reason that most people rarely accomplish what they re capable of. You must NEGOTIATE with yourself and perhaps others in your life for this time. Obviously, you ll need to stop doing some things you re currently doing to allow more focused time to create and implement your plans. What are you willing to give up, and will this affect others in your life?
By identifying up front what you will give up to accomplish that goal creates clarity within you. You won t be beating yourself up for working all the time, and if you do this right, you can still have some R&R on a regular basis. The really important thing is that you have identified specifically WHERE the additional time you ll need will come from, and you ve given yourself PERMISSION to use that time for your new project. The most important part of this process is to create a daily plan of action, and then implement that plan. You ve already created the plan, now you have to ensure you DO what you planned to do, and that you DO IT every single day NO EXCEPTIONS. To help you with this, I suggest you listen or re-listen to the productivity training module on this site. This will give you many insights that will help keep you on track. The secret is really very simple. Plan your work and work your plan. Here s how you can use this system on an ongoing basis. When you ve completed your main 1 or 2 priorities, just plug in our next priorities, and go through the same process again. What you have here is a system that you can use continually. As you accomplish your goals, set new ones, prioritize new tasks, and keep your system active all the time.